The Backlog: HoB

Hob is a slightly tilted top down (think The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds) action adventure puzzle platformer from Runic Games. The player controls a humanoid robot that wields both a sword and a gigantic fist. Upgrades to the main character enable you to traverse large vast puzzle stages. As for the reason why, I couldn’t tell you as the game’s story is very, very unknown, at least in the 2 hours I played. All I know is that my arm got chopped off because of an evil purple goo plant, and was replaced with a bigger arm, and now I can punch stuff, use it to activate switches, pull levers, and solve puzzles. Other bigger robots, both friendly and not, exist in the world. And everything bad seems to come from the purple goo. That's something I wish I knew, why I am even going through this world and solving its puzzles. Everything from the gameplay, the character movement’s feel, and graphics are amazing, I just want a little reason for doing it all. 

The Gameumentary “Runic Games Documentary - The Story of Runic Games, Torchlight & Hob“ provides a synopsis of the creation of Runic games, their development on Torchlight 1,2, and Hob. Runic was made after a bunch of staff got laid off from a previous gaming company, and one previous staff member asked if any of them would be interested in making a new studio where they could make a Diablo-like. Since they all had been working on one previously, they said yes, and used their previous knowledge, to make a game all their own. After Torchlight 1 and 2 were released, they set out to make a different type of game. They started off making a game resembling The Legend of Zelda, then decided to make a Zelda-like, named Hob. 

The focus on this documentary wasn’t just the story of the studio though, it also gives viewers a snapshot into the studio’s culture, creators, and stories behind each of the games made. A standout from the documentary was their first game, Torchlight, being created under a heavy crunch because of the limited funding available for the studio at the time. Instead of the usual hate filled crunch though, it seemed because the staff were more or less in total control, and had a desire to make a studio all their own where they could create and not be limited by their vision, they were able to pull it off and garner success. 

Watching the documentary definitely changed my perspective of the game. I would think back to the film and see the people who made it, and know the game was made with love. Everyone working for the studio seemed overjoyed to be there and liked working on a project they all agreed on, instead of being told what to make by corporate overlords. That's something an indie studio has more of compared to their big gaming companies usually, more passionate people as a whole who are happy to be working on a game they like.